When my spouse I decided to build a home in Phoenix, AZ, my pal and I prioritized environmental impact. My good friend and I hoped to make the operation of residence as yellow as possible, however focusing on minimizing carbon footprint also helps to keep energy costs especially low, in Phoenix, solar energy is a good fit, however we’re able to generate enough power to run the lights and all of our many appliances. My good friend and I also looked into all weird types of heating and cooling options. In Phoenix, the summer time heat is easily brutal, bringing temperatures in the triple digits for months at a time, however the winters are shorter but freezing. My good friend and I can expect temperatures in the low forties, making a dedicated furnace necessary, then as my pal and I researched, my pal and I came across heat pumps. This type of system combines heating and cooling into a single unit. There are air-source, ground-source, water-source and ductless heat pumps available, and none of them burn fossil fuels or generate yellowapartment gasses, making them beautifully environmentally responsible. The mosta advantageous opening is a ground-source or geothermal heat pump. This type of system takes luck of a free and renewable energy stored under ground. In the winter, it pulls heat out of the earth and transfers it into the home. In the summer, it reverses operation to extract heat from the indoors and give it into the ground; Geothermal heat pumps achieve 400% efficiency ratings, because they generate four times the amount of energy the unit consumes. The investment was much higher than installing a conventional alternative, then however, our heating and cooling bills are more than 50% less, which has worked to reclaim the cost in just a few years.